Fluid turbulizer



Jan. 25, 1944. w. H. GEDDES FLUID TURBULIZERS Filed April 29, 1943Patented Jan. 25, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIiUID-TURBULIZERWalter HaywardGeddes, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to United. AircraftProducts, Inc.,, Dayton, Ohio, 2. corporation'of Ohio: ApplicationApriL29, 1943,,Serial No. 485,038

8'Claims.

'I'hisinventionrelates to heat exchangeapparatus, and has'particularreferenceto. improvements in heat exchange apparatus of the. typeincluding a tube through which a liquid or other fluid to becooled; orheated,.flows and which. is

cooled, or heated, as the. case'may be, byxexchange: of' heat, throughthe wall of the tube,

between the fluid andia suitable. cooling, or heating, mediumexteriorlyof the tube.

Generallyxspeaking, theobjectof theinvention.

is to provide, in apparatus of thetype mentioned,

simple practical means within the'tube to break up and turbulize thefluid flowing through the tube: and to effect a rapid exchange of heatbe.- tween the fluid and the tube, whereby the entire body of the fluidis substantially uniformly cooled,.or heated, and, at thexsame: time, isexceptionally rapidly cooled, or heated, as the case may be.

With th foregoing'andiother objectsin' View, whichwill become more fullyapparent as" the nature of the invention is better understood, the sameconsists in heat exchange: apparatus em-- bodying the novel features ofconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts as will behereinafter more fully described, illustrated. in the accompanyingdrawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denotecorresponding partssin different views:

Figure l is'a front elevation of 'a heat exchange unit embodying thefeatures of the invention.

Figure 2' is a side elevation ofthe unit'shown in Figure. 1.

Figure3 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scalethrough one of thetubes of the unit shown inFigures 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is a transverse section on the. line 4-4'0f. Figure 3;

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing there has been illustrated by way ofexample a heat ex change unit comprising a pair of tanks land I l whichare connected together'by a plurality of tubes I2 of flattened elongatedform in transverse" Inthis unit the fluid to be cooled; or

section; heated, is supplied to one of the tanks l0or H;

flows through the tubes I2 to the other tank and delivered from thelatter tank, being cooled. or heated, during its flow through the tubes2 by exchange of heat through said tubes,

arranged therein an element or elements in accordance with the inventionfor the purpose of breakingup and turbulizingia fluidflcwingtherethrough. and for efiecting rapid=transfer of heat 1 between thefluid and the tube'whereby thorough and rapid cooling, or heating; ofthe fluid, is

efiected byacooling,1or heating, medium-circulated over the tubeexteriorly thereof.

Accordingly, referring: particularly to Figs. 2

2 and 3,.wherein the tube I2 is representative of any'tube. throughwhich flows afluidto be cooled orheated by'exchangeof he'at,.through thetube, between the fluid and a cooling or heatingmedium'circulated'overthetube exteriorly thereof, it will be observedthat withinthetube is a; series oftransversely'undulatedelements l3which extend transversely across the tube and which are disposed insuccession longitudinally'of the tube. It will further be observed thatadjacent elements l3 are reversed duplicates of one another and thateach of them comprises hill and valley portions I 4 and I5,respectively, which are in.

heat exchangecontact with opposite'sides, respectively, oi? the tubeatpoints spaced apart transversely of the tube. Moreover, it will beobserved that because adjacent elements arereversed, the hills andvalleys of e'achelement are opposed to the valleys and hills,respectively, of the element, or elements, next adjacent thereto.-

The elements I 3-may be formed from any suitable heat conductivematerial and may be of any desired widths and of equal or difierentwidths, respectively. Preferably, however, they are formed from sheetmaterial and are of equal widths. Preferably, too, the hills and valleysof adjacent elements are directly opposed. However, any disalinement ofthe hills and valleys of adjacent elements longitudinally with respectto the tube is withinthe purview of the invention. Moreover,whileadjacent elements may be spaced apart,. they preferably aredisposed in edge to edge, heat" conductive contact with one another.Furthermore, while the/tube l2 preferably is of elbngatedflattened" formin transverse section as illustrated'in the drawing, it may be of anyother configuration in cross section andthe elementsl3-may;.of course,be adapted" to its particularcross section". In other; Words, the'hillsand.-valleys'of the'eleme'ntsl3; instead-of'beingiof equal heights anddepths; as' shown inthe drawing, may be of different heights anddepths-"to'adapt said elements to fit'into'tubes of circularorelliptical shape incross section, for example,- with the" hillsandvalleys in contact with opposite sid'esofthetube; respectively.

Bycontact with" the edges ofthe elements l3 fluid flowing through the.tube I 2 will: be? deflected: and thereby: turbulized to an extent:ttrinsure substantially equal contact of all portions thereof with thewalls of said elements and said tube.

In addition, because the elements l3 serve to divide the total body ofthe fluid into smaller separate bodies, and because said elements I 3afford considerable areas for the conduction .of heat between theseparate bodies of the fluid and the tube, the cooling, or heating, ofthe fluid by i a cooling, or heating, medium exteriorly of the 7 tube isboth substantially uniform and rapid as is apparent. I

From the foregoing description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawing it is believed that the features and the advantagesof perature changed by exchange of heat through the tube between thefluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorly of the tube, andundulated elements of heat conductive material within said tube and incontact with opposite sides thereof at points spaced apart transverselyof the tube, said elements being disposed in succession longitudinallyof the tube and each element having its undulations disalinedlongitudinally of the tube from the undulations of the next adjacentelement.

2. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube for flow therethrough of afluid to have its temperature changed by exchange of heat through thetube between the fluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorlyof the tube, said tube having opposed spaced flat surfaces and opposedspaced curved side walls connecting said flat surfaces, and undulatedelements of heat conductive material extending transversely of the tubeand having contact first with one flat surface and then with theopposite flat surface of the tube at points successively in advance ofone another transversely of the tube, said elements being disposed insuccession longitudinally of the tube and each element having itsundulations opposed to the undulations of the next adjacent element,said elements further having each of its ends contacting an adjacentcurved side wall of the tube.

3. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube for flow therethrough of afluid to have its temperature changed by exchange of heat through thetube between the fluid and a medium of dif-.

ferent temperature exteriorly of the tube, and undulated elements ofheat conductive sheet material extending transversely of the tube andhaving hill and valley portions in contact with opposite sides of thetube, respectively, at points spaced apart transversely of the tube,said elements being disposed in succession longitudinally of the tubeand each element having its hills opposed to the valleys and its valleysopposed to the hills of the next adjacent element.

4. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube for flow therethrough of afluid to have its temperature changed by exchange of heat through thetube between the fluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorlyof the tube, and undulated elements of heat conductive sheet materialextending transversely of the tube and having hill and valley portionsin contact with opposite sides of the tube, respectively, at pointsspaced apart transversely of the tube, said elemnts being disposed insuccession longitudinally of the tube in edge to edge abuttingrelationship and each element having its hills opposed to the valleysand its valleys opposed to the hills of the next adjacent element.

, Heat exchange apparatus including a tube of flattened elongated shapein transverse section for flow therethrough of a fluid to have itstemperature changed by exchange of heat through the tube between thefluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorly of the tube, andundulated elements of heat conductive sheet material extending acrosssaid tube substantially from narrower side to narrower side thereof,said elements having hill and valley portions in contact with the widersides of said tube, respectively, at points successively in advance ofone another from one toward the other of the narrower sides of saidtube, said elements being disposed in succession longitudinally of thetube and each element having its hills and valleys opposed to thevalleys and the hills, respectively, of the next adjacent element.

6. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube of flattened elongated shapein transverse section for flow therethrough of a fluid to have itstemperature changed by exchange of heat through the tube between thefluid and a medium of differenttemperature exteriorly of the tube, andundulated elements of heat conductove sheet material extending acrosssaid tube in edge to edge abutting relation from narrower side tonarrower side thereof, said elements having hill and valley portions incontact with the Wider sides of said tube, respectively, at pointssuccessively in advance of one another from one toward the other of thenarrower sides of said tube, said elements being disposed in successionlongitudinally of the tube and each element having its hills and valleysdisalined longitudinally of the tube from the hillsand valleys of theneXt adjacent element.

7. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube for flow therethrough of afluid to have its temperature changed by exchange of heat through thetube between the fluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorlyof the tube, and undulated elements of heat conductive material withinsaid tube and in contact with opposite sides thereof at points spacedapart transversely of the tube, said elements being disposed insuccession longitudinally of the tube in side to side contactingrelation to each other and each element having its undulations disalinedlongitudinally of the tube from the undulations of the next adjacentelement.

'8. Heat exchange apparatus including a tube for flow therethrough of afluid to have its temperature changed by exchange of heat through thetube between the fluid and a medium of different temperature exteriorlyof the tube, and undulated elements of heat conductive sheet materialextending transversely of the tube and having hill and valley portionsand end portions in contact withopposite sides of the tube,respectively, at points spaced apart transversely of the tube, saidelements being disposed in edge to edge abutting relation to each otherin succession longitudinally of the tube and adjacent elements beingreversed duplicates of one another.

WALTER HAYWARD GEDDES.

